Log-turner.



No. 896,620. I PATENTED AUG. 18, 1908.

G. L. BURKETT.

LOG TURNER. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 30, 1907.

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atfozmzq 672arZ6JL witmeooeq I CHARLES L. BURKETT, OFROE, ARKANSAS.

LOG-TURNER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 18, 1908. Y

Application filed November 30, 1907. Serial No. 404,568.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES L. BURKETT, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Roe, in the county of Monroe and State of Arkansas, have invented new anduseful Improvements in Log-Turners, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to log tumors, the object in view being to provide a practical, mechanical log turning apparatus embodying a nigger bar or lever including a toothed log turning chain mounted thereon and carried thereby, combined with means for operating the arm and chain independently of each other, the apparatus as a whole being adapted to be operated from beneath the sawmill carriage or plane of the sawing machine, the nigger bar being adapted to be moved entirely out of the way when not required in use.

With the above and other objects in view, the nature of which will. more fully appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts herein fully described, illustrated and claimed.

The accompanying drawing represents a perspective view, partly broken away, of a log turner embodying the present invention.

The a paratus of this invention comprises a suitable base or bed-plate 1 having upstanding bearing pillars 2 and 3 thereon and also provided with a support 4 for the nigger bar when it is lowered to a substantially horizontal position as shown in the drawing.

J ournaled in a bearing in the pillar 2 is the drive shaft 5 of the machine, said drive shaft having a belt wheel 6 fast thereon. The drive shaft 5 also passes through a slot 7 in the other bearing pillar 3 to permit said shaft to have a limited movement toward and away from a countershaft 8 which is also journaled in bearings on the pillars 2 and 3. The countershaft 8 extends parallel to the drive shaft 5.

Mounted fast to the countershaft 8 is the nigger bar 9 which may be of any suitable length and which embodies an endless sprocket chain 2-O which passes aroundan inner driving sprocket at one end and an outer idler sprocket at the outer end of the nigger bar, the said chain being provided with outwardly projecting teeth or spurs 11 adapted to engage the log for turning the latter when the log rests against said bar in a manner well understood by those familiar with the art to which this invention appertains. The outer idler sprocket has the shaft 12 thereof mounted in sliding boxes 13 which are adj ustable in the direction of length of the nigger bar and which are rendered adjustable and capable of being sustained at any desired point of adjustment by means of screws 14 passing through lugs 15 on the nigger bar, as clearly shown in the drawing. The nigger bar is also provided on one or both sides with extension arms 16 formed with openings for r the countershaft 8, thereby giving increased stability to the nigger bar by providing additional and relatively spaced bearings for said bar.

Mounted loosely on the countershaft 8 at one side of the nigger bar is a chain driving friction wheel 17 to which the inner driving sprocket wheel designated at 18 is made fast so as to turn with the friction wheel 17, it being understood that both the wheel 17 and the'wheel 18 are loose on the countershaft 8, while the nigger bar is fast on said shaft.

Motion is imparted to the countershaft 8 from the main drive shaft 5 by means of a friction pulley 19 fast on the shaft 5, the said pulley being adapted to engage and drive an intermediate friction pulley 20 which, in turn, engages afriction wheel segment 21 fast on the countershaft 8. The intermediate friction pulley 20 is journaled in the fork 22 of a shipper bar 23 which is supported for movement on a rocker 24, the upper end of which is received in a notch or groove in the lower side of the shipper bar, while the lower end thereof is mounted on a journal 25 connected to the pillar 2. It will be apparent that as the shipper bar 23 is moved endwise toward the pulley 19, the intermediate friction pulley 20 will be forced into frictional engagement with the pulley 19 and also with the friction segment 21, and as the shaft 5 is the driving element of the machine, the mo tion of said shaft will be transmitted to the friction segment 21 and consequently to the countershaft 8 and nigger bar 9, causing said nigger'bar, to be raised from a horizontal to an approximately vertical position, in which latter position said bar is 1n proper relation to the Work to effect the turning of the log which is then accomplished by the move ment of the sprocket chain 10.

Motion is imparted to the sprocket chain 10 from the drive shaft 5 by means of a fric tion pulley 26 movable into and out of contact with the friction wheel 17 by the lateral shifting action of the shaft 5. This lateral shifting movement of the shaft 5 is effected by means of a shifting lever 27 which is pivotally mounted intermediate its ends on a fulcrum 0st 28 extending upward from the base or bed-plate 1. At its inner end the lever 27 has an opening through which the shaft 5 passes, while the outer end of said lever has a jointed connection with an elbow lever 29 fulcrumed at its elbow on an upstanding post 30 on the base 1. From the upwardly ex tending arm of the elbow lever 29, a connecting rod 31 extends to one arm of a bell crank lever 32 which is fulcrumed at its elbow on the bearing or pillar 2. Connected to the same arm of the bell crank lever is an operating rod 33 which forms the manually operated element by which the operating devices for the nigger bar and log turning chain are thrown into and out of operation. Jointed to the outer arm of the bell crank lever 32 is one end of a link 34 which is pivotally mounted at its lower end on a journal 35 connected with the pillar 2, said link being pivotally attached at 35 to the shipper bar 23, above described. In this way, the two mechanisms for transmitting motion to the nigger bar and the log turning chain are geared together for simultaneous operation, the arrangement being such that by moving the operating rod 33 in one direction, the pulley 20 is shifted so as to transmit motion from the drive shaft 5 to the countershaft 8 to elevate the nigger bar, and when said operating rod is moved in the opposite direction, the friction pulley 20 is retracted while the other friction pulley 26 is moved into driving engagement with the friction wheel 17 which sets the log turning chain in motion.

Any suitable means may be employed for holding the nigger bar in its operative logturning position and for restoring said arm to the inoperative position illustrated in the drawing.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is 1. A log turner comprising a frame, a drive shaft, a friction-driven countershaft, a nigger arm fast on the countershaft, a toothed log turning sprocket chain mounted for movement on said arm, a chain driving sprocket wheel loose on the countershaft, a

friction wheel also loose on the shaft and fixed to the driving sprocket wheel to rotate therewith, a friction wheel segment fast on the countershaft, and friction pulleys driven by the drive shaft and shiftable into and out friction wheel also loose on the shaft and fixed to the driving sprocket wheel to rotate therewith, a friction wheel segment fast on the countershaft, friction pulleys driven by the drive shaft and shiftable into and out of engagement with said friction wheel and friction wheel segment, and a single operating device and connections acting to simultaneously move the friction pulleys one into and the other out of driving engagement with the respective driven elements with which they cooperate.

3. A log turner comprising a frame, a drive shaft, a friction-driven countershaft, a nigger arm fast on the countershaft, a toothed log-turning sprocket chain mounted for movement on said arm, a chain driving sprocket wheel loose on the countershaft, a friction wheel also loose on the shaft and fixed to the driving sprocket wheel to rotate therewith, a friction wheel segment fast on the countershaft, a friction pulley fast on the drive shaft, a second friction pulley movable into and out of engagement with said friction pulley and the friction wheel segment, a shipper bar on which the second friction pulley is mounted, a rocker support for said shipper bar, and means for actuating said shipper bar.

4. A log turner comprising a frame, a drive shaft, a friction driven countershaft, a nigger armfast on the countershaft, a toothed log-turning sprocket chain mounted for movement on said arm, a chain driving sprocket wheel loose on the countershaft, a friction wheel also loose on the shaft and fixed to the driving sprocket wheel to rotate therewith, a friction wheel segment fast on the countershaft, means for transmitting motion from the drive shaft to the countershaft, a friction pulley fast on the drive shaft, and means for imparting a lateral movement to said drive shaft to shift the drive pulley thereon into and out of engagement with said friction wheel.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES L. BURKETT. Witnesses:

G. WQSHNULL, Jr., A. L. SMITH. 

